Sweet 16 Autumn
by Tinkerbell79
Summary: After their summer of firsts the gang heads back to school at Hillridge High. After a rough start, the school year holds it's own share of firsts in store for the gang.
1. Stalker Shane

So far Lizzie hated high school. She knew it was only the first day and that it would get better, but so far it was horrible. Maybe she was exaggerating in thinking that it was horrible and that she hated it, but so far it certainly wasn't what she'd hoped it would be. The main problem was that she hadn't seen anyone she knew in any of her classes. She hadn't seen Gordo, Miranda or Brad all day. In fact she'd seen so few people she'd recognized that she was starting to welcome the idea of seeing Kate or Claire in some of her classes. Lizzie realized that within a few weeks these strangers she saw all around her would no longer be stranger and she might even have a few new friends; it was just a matter of getting to that point.

So where had all these strangers come from, Lizzie wondered, she had expected to see all the same old faces she'd always seen in her classes. As it turned out Hillridge had two junior high schools. There was Hillridge Junior High where Gordo, Lizzie and Miranda had gone until the end of ninth grade. And on the other side of town there was Hillridge West Junior High, where kids their age who lived on the other side of town went until the end of ninth grade. Then in tenth grade, kids from both junior highs all went to Hillridge High School together.

Currently Lizzie was in English. The teacher had spent the whole class period going over the rules and the syllabus. "Well, since we're almost out of time let me give your assignment for tonight," Mrs. Johnson said.

A collective groan rose from the class.

"Come on kids, you're in high school now. It's tougher and there's more homework, get used to it," Mrs. Johnson said, "I want a 500 word essay about a lesson you learned this summer."

The bell rang and Lizzie excitedly headed to her locker. She had lunch period now and was hoping that someone she knew had the same lunch period that she did. The high school had enough students that there had to be three different lunch periods to accommodate everyone. Lizzie grabbed her bag lunch from her locker and smiled at the photo of herself and Gordo that hung on the inside of her locker door. It had been taken right before they had left for dinner on her 16th birthday. As she was about to close the door and head to the lunchroom someone addressed her from behind, "So, is that your boyfriend?"

Lizzie whirled around to find a tall brunette guy, who she had never seen before. Slightly defensively she answered, "Yes."

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, he won't be your boyfriend for much longer," he said.

"Why would that be?" Lizzie asked.

"You are the prettiest incoming sophomore and before long you'll be calling me your boyfriend," he said confidently.

"I doubt that," Lizzie said coldly as she walked away.

"Don't be so sure, Lizzie," he said to her retreating back.

Hearing him say her name like he did, she shivered a little. She'd have to try find out who this idiot was. Anyone who thought she'd ever leave Gordo for him had a lot to learn. As she entered the lunchroom she saw Gordo stand up and wave to her. As she hurried over to the table she decided to keep the incident to herself for now. She didn't want Gordo to feel threatened by some moron. As far as Lizzie was concerned, Gordo had nothing to worry about.

"Hey!" Gordo said as he stood up to kiss her, "Long time no see!"

"I know, I haven't see anyone I know all morning!" Miranda said.

"Well, then you guys know how I'm feeling," Brad said.

"You're not supposed to know anyone," Miranda said.

Brad grinned at her and said, "I know."

Having lunch with her friends cheered Lizzie up. She'd even forgotten about the strange encounter by her locker, until she went to biology and there he was again. As class started Lizzie was having a hard time concentrating since he would not stop staring at her. Mr. Page split the class into groups of two. They would interview each other and present a two-minute report on the other person later in the class. Mr. Page read through the class list splitting the class up alphabetically, "...Grace Ann McDonald you're with Elizabeth McGuire..."

The two girls moved to an empty lab table and introduced themselves.

"Hi, I'm Grace Ann McDonald, everyone calls me Gracie," Gracie said.

"Hi Gracie, I'm Elizabeth McGuire, everyone calls me Lizzie."

The two girls spent the next ten minutes gathering information about each other for their reports. When they'd finished they had fifteen minutes left until the reports would begin. They sat quietly for a minute then Lizzie asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Gracie said.

"See that guy over there?" Lizzie asked pointing at the guy who had been pestering her. Gracie nodded and Lizzie continued, "Do you know who he is?"

Gracie made an exasperated noise and said, "Don't tell me you like him."

"No, but he was giving me a hard time earlier and I just wanted to know who he was," Lizzie said.

"Good, he is such a pest and so not worth your time," Gracie said, "His name is Shane Simon. I've gone to school with him since grade school. What was he bugging you about?"

Lizzie explained the entire encounter she'd had with him before lunchtime and as she spoke Gracie grew more and more quiet.

"What's the matter? You're starting to scare me?" Lizzie said.

"You should be scared. Shane is like an obsessive stalker type. His family is really rich and for some reason he thinks that he should have who ever he deems as the prettiest girl for his girlfriend. He doesn't understand that he needs to earn people's friendship or love. He is a complete leech and I'm not sure he has any real friends," Gracie explained.

"Well, now I feel kind of bad for him," Lizzie said.

"Don't, that is part of the game. He is out to make trouble for you between you and your friends and your boyfriend. He wants to isolate you so that he is the only person left you can turn to for a friend. Shane has split up many relationships this way. He has a lot of people who act like his friends, but it's only because they are afraid of him ruining them too."

"So, how do I stop this from happening?" Lizzie asked.

"I would tell your best friends and your boyfriend everything I told you so that they are aware of what he is up to," Gracie said.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Lizzie paid attention as best she could, but was worried about Shane and what he would try to do to her. Gracie had told her the names of other girls he had done this to, so that Lizzie could ask them about it. At the end of the day Lizzie was at her locker getting her things together to go home. The four of them had ridden to school together this morning and they were going to meet out at the car to go home together too.

"Ready?" Came a voice from behind her.

Assuming it was Gordo, Lizzie spun around and said, "Yep." Realizing it was Shane she said, "Ready for what?"

"I'm going to drive you home," Shane said.

"No you're not. I'm riding home with my boyfriend," Lizzie said.

Gordo came around the corner of the bank of lockers just in time to see Shane kiss Lizzie on the cheek and leave. "What the heck," he thought, "It's only the first day of school and she's forgotten about us already?" Realizing that he might not know the whole story he tried to stay calm as he approached her and asked, "So, Lizzie, what was that all about?"

"We have to talk," was all she said before tears started to fall from her eyes.

Author's Note: So, here is chapter one of the sequel. I hope that people weren't expecting me to put the sequel further out in the future from the 1st story. In one of my reviews for Sweet 16 Summer someone asked what grade they were going to be in. I know that the whole set up of Jr. High and High school is different than it would be on the TV show, but forgive me on that point. I think I did an okay job of explaining how this point works in my story. I want to get people's reactions to this story so far. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	2. Reaffirming Trust

Gordo calmed Lizzie down and offered to take her home where they could talk the whole thing over. Lizzie nodded her agreement and sensing that Gordo was on her side, she was feeling less panicky. They dropped off Brad and Miranda at the Gordon residence and continued onto the McGuire residence. As they entered the house Jo greeted them and inquired about their first day of high school. "So, how was it guys?"

"Not as great as one would hope for," Gordo said.

"You can say that again," Lizzie said.

"Well, what happened?" Jo asked confused by their utter lack of enthusiasm, which was the complete opposite of how they'd been acting when they'd left the house that morning.

"I don't have anyone I know in any of my classes and I have a stalker who is threatening to make my life a living hell," Lizzie explained, starting to cry.

Quietly Gordo comforted her and Jo shot questioning looks at Gordo. Gordo shrugged and told Lizzie to go up to her room and wait for him. He'd bring up some water for her in a minute.

"What happened?" Jo asked as soon as Lizzie had ascended the stairs to her room.

"I don't know yet. I did see some guy kiss her by her locker, then she started to cry. She is going to tell me all about it and I can fill you in if she doesn't. I'm a little worried though, I've never seen her so freaked out before," Gordo said.

"She's lucky to have you Gordo. Thank you," Jo said as she started putting snacks and drinks on a tray for him to take up to her room.

When Gordo entered the room Lizzie was standing by the window forlornly looking out at the backyard. Gordo set down the tray, walked over to where she was and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. With his chin on her shoulder he softly asked her, "So, are you ready to tell me about it?"

Lizzie nodded and settled herself on the bed. "There's this guy in our grade who went to Hillridge West, his name is Shane Simon. He is after me and he's going to ruin my life."

"Why do you think he's after you?" Gordo asked.

"Because he told me," Lizzie said.

"Okay, why do you think he's going to ruin your life?" Gordo asked.

"Today in Biology I was partners with this girl named Gracie McDonald. I told her about how Shane was bugging me before lunch and she told me about what he does to the girls he thinks he should have." Lizzie said.

"What do you mean when you say the girls he thinks he should have?" Gordo asked.

"Well, Gracie told me that Shane is rich and therefore he thinks he should have any girl he wants," Lizzie said.

"Why you?" Gordo asked, "Not that I blame him, but why did he choose you?"

"Shane told me earlier today that he thinks I am the prettiest girl in the incoming sophomore class," Lizzie said.

Gordo grinned and said, "Can't argue with him there."

"Gordo, this is nothing to joke around about," Lizzie said.

"Lizzie, I believe what you are telling me, but why don't you go back to what happened before lunch and tell me about everything that happened today, I need to understand all of it" Gordo said seriously.

Lizzie explained her entire day in great detail to Gordo. Every word of every conversation and every action she took. When she had finished he could better understand why Lizzie had been so upset.

"Lizzie," he said, "You're not going to lose me. No matter what this guy tries to make me believe about you or about us, I'm going to always be on your side. Okay?"

Lizzie nodded and said, "How can I be sure?"

"Because I love you Lizzie. We are stronger than this guy and we won't let him get in our way. Okay?" Gordo said.

"But what if he does?" Lizzie asked.

"I really don't see that happening. But if it does, remind me of this moment and how much I trust you," Gordo said, "You are one of the most important things in my life and I don't think that Shane could convince me to turn against you."

"Well, just be careful of him, it sounds like he always gets what he wants," Lizzie said.

"I will, I promise," Gordo said as he kissed her on the forehead.

Feeling much more confident and playful Lizzie said, "You love me? Then prove it,"

"Your whole family is home," Gordo said.

"So lock the door," she said seductively, "I can be quiet."

Gordo kissed her then leapt off the bed to lock the door. When he turned back around she had already stripped down to her bra and underwear. Gordo quickly peeled off his clothes as well and the two of them climbed into bed. Foreplay was minimal and she emitted a tiny, but slightly audible squeal of pleasure when he entered her. When they'd finished they lay together in her bed resting.

What they did not realize was that Matt was up to his regular schemes. He'd only been home a few days, but he was completely up to date on what had been going on. He knew all about his sister's relationship with Gordo and just how far things had gone. He also realized that while he thought his sister was a major loser, others may not agree. Matt knew that video footage of what his sister was up to in her room at this very moment might be very valuable to him. The previous evening when Lizzie was at Gordo's house he'd taken the liberty to install a mini camera in her room. He was not going to advertise that he had the footage and he certainly didn't want to watch it, but if the right buyer came along and offered the right price, he'd be willing to sell. Sure he might feel a little guilty, but it was money that made the world go round, not sisters.

Author's Note: All right, so my readers have noticed that this sequel is darker and slightly unconventional. I wanted them to have a test. The first story was a lot of fun and really fluffy—but I wanted to make them work to stay together, so we'll see how they do. I am going to try my best to keep this slightly fluffy still, because that is my favorite too! Let me know what you think!! Best, Tinkerbell!


	3. Disturbing Behavior

Matt was slightly disturbed by how good it was making him feel to know that he had the sex tape to torture his sister with. Partly he was feeling a little guilty and deep down inside warning bells were ringing, telling him to get out while he still could. But it felt so good and all he really wanted was to see Lizzie hurting, the same way that he was hurting. Matt had been excited to go away to camp, until he got there and discovered that Camp Nokomis was not the happy, carefree place depicted on the brochure. In fact, his parents had sent him away to a boot camp to snap young troublemakers, like himself into shape. It had been a long summer and nothing he pulled would get him thrown out or sent home. He had been stuck at this camp all summer long while Lizzie was at home with their parents swimming in the new pool. It had been her fault that he'd gotten sent away in the first place, but that was another story. All Matt knew now was that he had some ammo to start his revenge on her for his summer in hell.

For as long as anyone could remember Matt had been a prankster and a practical jokester. He loved to play with people's heads. But as he reached his teens, the traps he set for Lizzie had become a little bit more mean than funny. Matt had begun to realize that his parents gave special treatment to Lizzie and he wasn't sure why. Sure he was more of a handful, but Lizzie certainly had her moments where she could be a pain too. They also seemed to pay more attention to her in general. It was probably wrong to take this out on Lizzie. It was his parents fault that he was receiving less attention, but in his mind he justified it by telling himself that brothers were supposed to torture their sisters.

At dinner that night Lizzie was telling their parents all about how horrible her first day of school was and about some clown named Shane Simon who was apparently stalking Lizzie and trying to ruin her life. Matt had been only half listening as he thought about how, again, Lizzie was dominating the dinner conversation. His parents seemed to have forgotten that he'd started junior high today, but obviously that paled in comparison to Lizzie's drama. As the conversation he was half listening to sunk in Matt realized he could have a potential buyer for his tape, Shane Simon. He would have to figure out how to contact him.

After dinner Matt looked up Simon in the phonebook. There were four of them so he picked the one who lived in the most expensive part of town; Lizzie had mentioned that his family was rich.

"Good Evening, Simon residence," someone answered when Matt called the number.

"Hi, is Shane home?" Matt asked.

"May I tell him who is calling?" they asked.

"Matt McGuire, tell him that I'm Lizzie's brother," Matt answered. The line was silent for a few minutes then another voice answered.

"Hello, Matt?" Shane asked, "What can I do for you?"

"Shane, I have an offer for you," Matt said.

"Shoot," Shane said.

"Well, I hear you are trying to get my sister to be your girlfriend," Matt said.

"Yes I am, any ideas of how I can get that to happen?" Shane asked sensing that Matt's call was not to discourage him.

"Well she is pretty attached to her boyfriend Gordo, so I'm suggesting blackmail," Matt said.

"Blackmail is a thought, but not really my style," Shane said, "How about you tell me what you have that I can use. I assume that's why you're calling."

"I'm glad you asked, I have a videotape of Lizzie and her boyfriend in a fairly compromising position, if you know what I mean," Matt said.

"What would I do with that?" Shane asked.

"I don't know, that is entirely up to you," Matt said, "I just heard about what you were trying to do and thought I would offer what I had to help out."

"Let me ask you something Matt. Why are you selling me a tape which will hurt your sister and her reputation?" Shane asked.

"Let's just say that Lizzie and I have a score to settle," Matt said. "You realize that this tape will cost you?"

"Of course," Shane said, "How does $200 sound?"

"Perfect, meet me tomorrow afternoon at the Digital Bean at we'll make the trade," Matt said.

"Let's say 3:30?" Shane asked.

"Done," Matt said and they both hung up.

When Shane got the tape he was disappointed by how little there was to see. They had been under the covers most of the time and the camera placement was awkward and cut off most of what would have been useful action. The most interesting part of the tape was the conversation leading up to the sex. Lizzie and her boyfriend had been discussing Shane himself and how they were going to deal with him and how their love and trust in each other would get them through. Shane laughed about how naïve they were, he always got what he wanted, and that was Lizzie McGuire.

Shane decided he would take a still frame out of the footage and manipulate the image. He would take out Gordo's face and put his own in the picture, so it looked like he was having sex with Lizzie instead of her boyfriend. Then he would give the picture to Gordo and watch the sparks fly.

While he was glad to have the tape he didn't understand Matt's motive in selling it to him. While he knew that he himself was not quite right he would never willingly hurt his own family. Matt was one to watch and if his plans worked out he may have to warn Lizzie that her own brother was working against her.

Author's Note: So, this has actually become quite a bit darker than my previous story. I have a few people who are not thrilled with this story and have implied that I am sick for writing it. Here is what I have to say to those people: Life is not perfect as depicted in my previous story. Bad things happen and people hurt other people. I wanted to try a story that was not so nice and as much as I sometimes cringe at what I am writing, the story a lot of times leads me in directions I do not anticipate. I think that while this story has some darker elements the overall question is whether or not Gordo and Lizzie's love and endure the challenges life throws at them. I apologize to those who do not think this sequel is what it should be, but it is my story and not yours. If you do not like it, then don't read it. I think the story will still have fluff and will eventually get back to a more normal track...but I wanted to establish right away in this story that there are some darker things going on. Thanks to all who are reading and reviewing!! Best, Tinkerbell


	4. The Email

It was finally Friday. Lizzie had been in a great, playful mood this morning on their drive to school and Gordo was glad to see her in better spirits again. Miranda even had to tell them that they were making her sick. Maybe this stalker thing was not going to be a problem. So far all he had done was harass Lizzie everyday, which they could handle. It wasn't particularly fun for Lizzie to have the creep following her around and suggesting that they do things together, but at least it was mostly harmless. Gordo had been nervous of the things this kid was going to try, but so far so good. Gordo was standing at his locker getting his books together for his first class when Shane walked by and said, "Let the games begin." Gordo had no idea what it meant, but he was not looking forward to finding out either.

Gordo's first class was keyboarding. It was a stupid class, but the high school required that all the sophomores take it. Most of the kids in the class could already type better than the teacher, after all this was the generation of email and IM. The only good thing about the class was that it allowed Gordo to catch up on his email. The school had set up the computers so that the Internet was not accessible on them, but Gordo knew a few tricks and had managed to bypass the system. He opened his email account and saw that he had 5 new messages; two from Lizzie, one from Miranda, one from his Dad and one from an email address he did not recognize. The emails from his Dad and Miranda were silly forwards. The emails from Lizzie were short, but made him blush and he wasn't going to even open the one he didn't recognize the address on. Mr. Davis, the keyboarding teacher announced that he had to step out of the room for a minute and instructed everyone to practice the exercises in the first chapter of their books. Gordo decided he would open the email after all, it would probably be more interesting than exercises. Gordo double clicked the email and slowly it opened. It said:

Gordon,

Your girlfriend is great in the sack! It won't be long until she'll be mine.

Insincerely,

Shane Simon

"Is this a joke?" Gordo thought as he finished reading the message. He didn't understand what it could mean. He noticed that the email had an attachment, which might clear up the meaning of the cryptic message. When the attachment opened Gordo was horrified to see what it was. Quickly he shut it, as he didn't want anyone else in the class to see it. As rage boiled up inside of him he reminded himself that it might not be what it appeared. Allowing himself a moment to run with his first instincts he slammed his fist down on the keyboard, breaking it. "How could Lizzie sleep with that jerk?" he thought. "What happened to everything she told me about trust and loving me?" Just then Mr. Davis returned to the room.

"Mr. Gordon, what happened to your keyboard?" Mr. Davis asked.

Gordo looked down in surprise at the keyboard and blankly shrugged at the teacher. In a moment of inspiration he added, "I was so upset over the typing error I made, that I may have gotten carried away."

Mr. Davis nodded and said, "I can see how that might happen. Why don't you switch computers for the rest of the class period."

On his way back to his locker after keyboarding, Gordo passed Shane, who smirked at him. Gordo realized that Shane knew he would get the email during his first class and also, that he had to keep his cool until he could talk to Lizzie. Gordo couldn't concentrate all morning. He kept seeing the image of Shane and Lizzie together in his head. Even if the picture was not real, he couldn't figure out how Shane had set it up. He needed to talk to Lizzie.

Lizzie could tell when Gordo entered the lunchroom that something was wrong. Gordo motioned for her to come with him and she quickly got up and followed him down the hall. In the keyboarding room he had his email account opened.

"Hey! What's up?" she said cheerfully.

"Something, but I'm not quite sure what yet," Gordo said.

"Gordo, you're shaking, what is it?" Lizzie said.

"This," Gordo said as he clicked open the email. Lizzie quickly read the email and looked at Gordo in confusion.

"There's an attachment," he said. He opened it and Lizzie gasped in horror at what she saw.

Her eyes filled with tears and she shakily said, "I did not sleep with him."

"I believe you," Gordo said reassuringly, comforted by her reaction, "but we have to figure out how he did this."

Looking more closely at the picture Lizzie noticed two things, which she pointed out to Gordo. There was a date and time in the corner of the photo, which if correct, would mean that the photo was taken just a few hours after she'd arrived home on the first day of school. You could also see a very distinct scar on the back of the right leg, just below the knee, which unless Shane had the exact same scar, meant that it was actually Gordo having sex with Lizzie in the picture.

"So, now the real question is, where did he get this photo to manipulate?" Gordo asked.

Both thought for a moment and came up with the same conclusion, "Matt!"

"I don't see how it could have been anyone else," Lizzie said, "There's no way Shane could have gotten into the house to set anything up. Not with the security system my Dad has in place."

"Why don't we meet at my house after school and we can talk about what we are going to do," Gordo suggested. Lizzie agreed as she wiped her eyes.

"Maybe I can help you to achieve this expression again," Gordo said in reference to the picture.

Lizzie giggled and said, "It does really look like I'm enjoying myself."

After school Lizzie called her mom and told her that she was going to have dinner with Gordo at his house. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon were both out of town on business and Brad and Miranda were going to have dinner with her parents, so they had the house to themselves, again. As Gordo grilled chicken breasts and Lizzie mixed a salad, they discussed the problem at hand.

"Did you think I had actually slept with him, Gordo?" Lizzie asked quietly.

"No," Gordo replied firmly. "Well, when I first saw it, before I realized that it could be fake, I was really scared that you had and I was so crushed."

"You know I would never do that to you," Lizzie said.

"Deep down inside I know that, but sometimes my insecurities take over and I let them convince me otherwise," Gordo said. "Shane is a pretty rich guy, maybe you'd rather be with him."

"Let me explain something to you," Lizzie said, "I think I have known for a really long time that you and I were supposed to be together. You are my first love and that is not something that I'm just going to get over or change my mind about. I love you and don't you ever forget that, David Gordon. Besides, people have to earn my love and trust. Shane is doing everything to make me loath and fear him, there can't be love in that type of situation."

"I love you too," Gordo said, "Thank you for reassuring me."

The two ate dinner and discussed what they were going to do about Matt. At the end of dinner they still weren't sure, so they decided that they'd think about it some more and talk again later on the subject.

"I got movies!" Gordo said invitingly.

"Excellent," Lizzie said as they headed toward the den. They drew the blinds, shut the door and settled themselves on the couch to relax. It didn't take long for the movie to be forgotten. Lizzie could feel Gordo's excitement as his hand moved up her leg, under her skirt. When Gordo's excitement reached peak level and he could wait no longer he got up off the couch and took Lizzie's hand to lead her up to his room.

"Couldn't we do it in here?" Lizzie asked.

"You want to have sex on the couch in my den?" Gordo asked.

"Yeah," Lizzie said.

"Why?" Gordo asked, "There's so much more privacy in my room, besides we could get caught in here."

Lizzie blushed a little and said, "Well, when I used to imagine what it would be like if we ever did it, it always took place in this room. In my head we'd be watching a movie, then things would happen...." Lizzie trailed off and blushed hotly.

"Did you imagine this before or after we were dating?" Gordo asked, enjoying her admission.

"Both," she said blushing even brighter, "Now stop torturing me, are we going to do it here or not?"

"You still realize that we could get caught if we do it in here, right?" Gordo asked.

"That's part of what makes it more exciting," Lizzie said seductively.

"Naughty!" Gordo said as he pushed her back down on the couch to continue with what they'd started before.


	5. Caught, in the car!

Author's Note: I had to laugh a little when I got a review asking about Brad and Miranda. My plan all along has been to have this chapter be all about Brad and Miranda. I had just wanted to establish the drama in the story before I got back into the fluffy romances. So, here it is...Brad and Miranda... Enjoy! Best, Tinkerbell.

After dinner with her parents Brad and Miranda went up to her room to talk. Her parents didn't care that they were up there, as long as the door remained open. Before they sat down on the bed to talk Brad drew Miranda into his arms and gave her a long hug.

"What was that for?" Miranda asked.

"Nothing, I just felt like hugging you," Brad replied.

"So, how was your first week of high school in Hillrigde?" Miranda asked as she flopped herself down on her bed.

"It was okay," Brad said unenthusiastically.

"Just okay?" Miranda asked concerned, "Why wasn't it great?"

"I don't know," Brad said, reluctant to tell her what he was really thinking.

"Come on, you can tell me," Miranda prompted.

Brad sighed and said, "I just don't want to make you feel bad."

"Are you breaking up with me?" Miranda asked calmly.

"No," Brad said.

"Well, then spill it, you aren't going to make me feel bad," Miranda said,

Sighing again Brad said, "Well, I kind of miss my old school. Even though I didn't have a lot of friends there and a lot of people who made fun of me, at least it was comfortable. At Hillridge everyone knows me as 'Miranda's boyfriend' and then there's the people who are friends with Kate and Claire and are trying extra hard to make me feel unwelcome..."

Miranda stopped him with a kiss and said, "Brad, it's gonna take a little time for everything to feel right. I can see how all of this would be hard on you, but you can't expect that the first week would be perfect."

"What about Kate and Claire?" Brad asked.

"Just blow them off, most other people do. They'll get bored of giving you a hard time and move onto someone else," Miranda said, "And as for being known as my boyfriend, that'll pass too. Right now that is the one thing that people remember about you, but once they get to know you it will be better. You'll see."

"Okay," Brad said quietly.

"Is anything else the matter?" Miranda asked sensing that there was.

"Well, yeah. I'm probably over reacting about all the silly stuff at school because my biggest problem right now is that I really miss my Dad," Brad said.

"Are you thinking that you might want to move to Taiwan with him after all?" Miranda asked.

"No. As much as I miss him, I do not want to finish high school in Taiwan. I belong here now, with you," Brad said.

"I'm glad you feel that way, I'd be sad to see you leave," Miranda said, "How often are you getting to talk to your Dad right now?"

"Once a week or so. I'd like to talk to him more, but the long distance is too expensive," Brad said.

"Does your Dad have a web cam?" Miranda asked.

"No," Brad said, "Why?"

"Because if you have one and he has one, you can talk over the internet for free," Miranda said.

"That's a great idea, I can't believe I didn't think of that," Brad said excitedly.

"Tomorrow we'll call your Dad and tell him the plan," Miranda said.

"Thanks Miranda," Brad said as he pushed her back onto her bed.

The two were engaged in some serious lip lock when Mr. Sanchez walked past the open door and sternly cleared his throat.

Miranda giggled and said, "You wanna get out of here?"

Brad, who was an intense shade of red, just nodded his agreement. The two straightened themselves out and told Mrs. Sanchez that they were going out. Even thought Miranda had turned 16 at the end of the summer, she hadn't taken the time to get her drivers license yet. Besides, even if she got it, there wouldn't be an extra vehicle for her to drive. Since Gordo and Lizzie were staying in for dinner, Gordo had let Brad take his car to the Sanchez's for dinner.

"Should we go see if Gordo and Lizzie want to join us?" Miranda asked.

"Not just yet," Brad said. He drove to an empty school parking lot and parked the car. As he leaned toward Miranda in the front seat he said, "I was not quite ready to be done when your father so rudely interrupted us."

Things heated up more quickly this time and Brad was surprised when Miranda did not immediately stop things when he slid his hand up her stomach under her shirt. Normally when things got to this level she was the one to stop it. He'd expected her to do the same this time and so far she hadn't. Almost at a loss over what to do next he decided to proceed. His hand slid around to her back and effortlessly he unsnapped her bra.

Miranda giggled and teasingly said, "For a nerd, you had no problem at all with that move."

"You're okay with this?" Brad asked breathlessly.

"Yeah. I don't want to go all the way yet, but a few more steps closer won't hurt," Miranda said.

Brad moved both his hands under the front of her shirt and began to move them upward. When he reached the intended destination Miranda understood what Lizzie had meant when she'd said she never wanted it to stop. As Brad caressed her Miranda had to work to keep quiet. Although the parking lot was empty, there probably were people not too far away who would hear them if things got too loud. Miranda knew they should stop, but she just didn't want to. Just as she reached the point where she could take no more and she screamed, "¡Oh mi dios!" a bright light shone in through the windshield.

"You kids better get moving," a male voice instructed them.

When the light moved out of their eyes they could see that is was a police officer that was addressing them.

"Uh, no problem officer," Brad said stumbling over his words, "Sorry."

"There's no loitering in this parking lot," the officer said.

"Sorry," Brad mumbled again.

"Son, I don't care what you two were doing in there, you're not in trouble. If we had to write up every teenage couple we came across who were doing that, we'd have to hire more officers just for that task alone. Just don't let me catch you two here again," the officer said and he headed back to his car.

When the police cruiser had finally departed Brad and Miranda let out nervous breaths.

"I thought we were toast," Miranda said, "My parents would have killed me."

"I don't think I've ever been so embarrassed," Brad said.

"From now on let's find less public places to do...that," Miranda said.

"Miranda can I ask you something?" Brad said, a little unsure of himself.

"Sure," Miranda said.

"What does '¡Oh mi dios!' mean?" Brad asked worriedly.

Miranda laughed then said, "It means, 'Oh my God!'"

"Really?" Brad said, his face lighting up, "That good huh?"

Miranda blushed brightly and said, "Yes, that good."

The couple headed back to the Gordon residence to see if Gordo and Lizzie wanted to go to the drive in with them. When they entered the house they could hear that a movie was playing in the den. Quietly they walked back to the den thinking they would scare the couple, if it was a scary movie playing. They opened the door and instead of surprising the couple, got a surprise themselves; Gordo and Lizzie weren't in the den at all, there was a pile of clothes indicating that they had been there, but Gordo and Lizzie themselves were no where to be seen.


	6. I'm So Sorry!

Author's Note: First off I want to apologize to everyone for letting this story sit for so long with no updates. Secondly I would like to apologize for what I am about to do, which is abandoning this story. When I started this story I got some criticism about the darker feeling that it has compare to Sweet 16 Summer. I thought I wanted to write something darker and more real to life, but now that I am up to my neck in the story I have found that I am not enjoying it like I did the first one. I don't know where to go and I just don't like it. I would much prefer to go back in time and write the fluffy story that will come so much easier to me and that all the people who liked my first story enjoyed as well.

I would like to have some feedback on what people think I should do...Should I keep this story up or delete it all together and start over on this second installment?

If there is anyone who wants me to leave it up so they can continue to write it, let me know.

So, coming soon, there will be the sequel to Sweet 16 Summer and it will not be Sweet 16 Autumn, it will back to the fluffy style that I do so much better with.

I hope people don't think I'm a quitter because of this action.

Thanks!

Tinkerbell79


	7. Turning in the Culprits

Lizzie was leaning back into Gordo's chest. Their sexual adventure on the couch in the den had led them to the Jacuzzi tub in his parent's master bathroom. After all, Gordo had told her, if we're going to play out one of your fantasies, we have to do one of mine too. They'd fooled around both in and out of the tub and were currently just relaxing.

"So, not to spoil the mood, but what are we going to do about Matt and the whole Shane situation?" Gordo asked.

Lizzie sighed and said, "I think we're going to have to talk to my Mom. As much as I'd prefer to deal with this alone I don't think we can. We need an adult with some power who can help us out of this mess."

"I'm glad you said that. I kept coming back to that idea too but I thought you'd be mad if I suggested it," Gordo said.

"So, we'll talk to her tomorrow?" Lizzie said, hopeful that they could put off the conversation a little bit longer.

"I think we should talk to her tonight, when we can get her alone" Gordo said, "Unless you're ready to have this conversation with your Dad in the room too."

"You're right of course, we should talk to her tonight. But, my Dad is going to find out anyway. With Matt's involvement in this my Mom will have to tell him," Lizzie said.

Gordo blanched a little, he was not looking forward to Mr. McGuire finding out that he'd deflowered his only daughter.

Lizzie noticed Gordo's obvious uneasiness and turned over to comfort him. She had just repositioned herself on top of him when the bathroom door banged open and Miranda shouted, "Brad, I found them."

"Don't you ever knock?" Gordo shouted.

Miranda's eyes widened as she noticed what state they were in and then she fumbled to pull the door shut again. Through the door she explained, "I'm sorry! We came over to see if you guys wanted to hang out, but all we found was your pile of clothes in the den and we weren't sure what that meant."

"Well next time we have sexual activities planned we'll be sure to give you guys a detailed schedule, okay?" Gordo shouted back sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," Miranda said weakly and Lizzie could tell that she was struggling not to cry. Miranda wasn't typically a crier; but she hated to have her friends angry with her.

When Gordo and Lizzie emerged from the tub wrapped in towels they discovered that their clothes had been left outside the bathroom door for them. Quickly they dressed and went in search of Miranda. Brad was comforting Miranda in his room and he glared at Gordo a little when they entered the room.

"Miranda, I'm sorry I yelled at you. You didn't do anything wrong. This whole Shane situation has got me a little on edge," Gordo said.

"What Shane situation?" Brad asked.

Gordo and Lizzie explained everything that had happened in the last week since school started.

"Why didn't you guys tell us?" Miranda asked, "I had heard all about Shane and what he does to girls from some people at school; but I had no idea that you were his new target."

"Yeah, lucky me," Lizzie said.

"It's a weird situation, we weren't really sure what to do about it," Gordo said.

"We're going to go talk to my Mom right now," Lizzie added, "To see if she can help us somehow."

When Gordo and Lizzie arrived back at her house they found Jo in the kitchen baking cookies. "Hi guys!" she greeted them warmly. She knew instantly that something was wrong from the awkward greeting she received in return.

"What's wrong?" Jo asked.

"Remember on the first day of school when Lizzie came home so upset and saying that she had a stalker who was going to make her life a living hell?" Gordo asked, "Well, we're officially in hell."

Lizzie promptly burst into tears. Until now she had not been overly emotional about the situation; but knowing that her mother would comfort her and know how to make it better, she was able to let go of some of what she'd been holding inside.

Jo sat them down at the table with cookies and milk and they explained every single tiny detail of what had happened thus far.

"So, let me get this straight," Jo said when they'd stopped talking, "This Shane kid thinks he deserves you as his girlfriend and he is doing underhanded and down right creepy things to try get your boyfriend to dump you?"

Gordo and Lizzie nodded and Jo continued, "So really so far, except for the email with the sex picture all he's done is verbally harass you, right?"

They nodded again and then she asked the question they'd been dreading, "Where did he get the picture of you two to manipulate?"

"Well," Gordo started, "After a lot of thought and some investigation the only explanation we can come up with is that it had to have come from Matt."

"No," Jo said firmly. "He wouldn't do something like that to our family."

"I found it hard to believe at first too, but look at the facts. First, it would be practically impossible for someone to get into this house to set up a camera; it would have to be an inside job. Second, since Matt has returned home from camp he has been especially hostile toward Lizzie. And finally, can you think of anyone else this close to Lizzie who might do this?" Gordo asked.

Jo said nothing for a minute then quietly said, "Let's get Matt down here and ask him a few questions."

Jo took her time getting Matt settled at the table. She wasn't sure how she wanted to approach this. Matt had always been very evasive when he came to conversations like this one. She was sure that she'd need to trick him to get the truth.

"So Matt, do you know anyone named Shane Simon?" Jo asked.

"Yep," Matt said and went back to the cookie he was working on.

"How do you know him?" Jo asked.

"I believe that he was the creep I sold the sex tape of Gordo and Lizzie to for 200 bucks," Matt said sounding rather proud of himself.

Lizzie gasped and Jo started to cry. Gordo looked as if he wanted to get up and punch Matt, but he just continued to sit next to Lizzie and hold her hand.

"How could you do something like that to your sister?" Jo asked furiously.

"Easy, Lizzie and I have a score to settle. I was just getting her back," Matt said.

"What could I have possibly done that would deserve this kind of revenge?" Lizzie asked.

"You got me sent away to boot camp and you get all their attention," Matt shouted as he pointed as his mother.

"Your sister did not get you sent away to boot camp. We had decided months before we told you about it that we were sending you away for the summer," Jo yelled.

"Why would you pick a place like that?" Matt asked.

"Your father and I had hoped that as your matured and grew into a young man that you would grow out of the phase where you constantly need to harass your sister. Instead of growing out of it you became worse. Your attacks on her became more vicious and vindictive. We were trying to get you some help before it was too late," Jo explained.

"Do you want to know why they got worse?" Matt asked, "Because you love Lizzie more than you love me. You pay so much attention to her and I am just forgotten."

"That is not true, we love you both the same," Jo insisted, "If we didn't love you, why would we try to get you help?"

"To protect your precious Lizzie!" Matt screamed.

Matt was sent back to his room and Sam was clued into everything that was going on. The four of them decided on a plan of action and on Monday morning they found themselves sitting in a counseling office at the high school. They explained the whole story to a counselor who in turn notified the police. Because both the boys involved were minors there wasn't much that the police could do but they did help the McGuire's get a restraining order against Shane. The high school maintained a zero tolerance policy and had Shane expelled from school for sexual harassment. When Shane's parents heard about everything they decided to put Shane into a private military boys only prep school. Matt and Lizzie currently didn't attend the same school so Matt's school was not involved and he could not be suspended, but Jo and Sam decided to send him away to a school similar to where Shane went. At Matt's school they would be aware of what had happened and he would be required to meet with a therapist. Jo and Sam worried that by sending him away that they would only be reinforcing Matt's claim that they loved him less than Lizzie. But in the end they decided that this would be the best course of action for all involved.

Gordo and Lizzie were innocent in the matter but were asked to attend a lecture on abstinence as the best method of birth control. They also still had Sam to answer to…

Author's Note: Thanks for all the great advice on what I should do with this story since I was no longer sure I wanted to continue. I got a pretty evenly divided answer. About half said that it was up to me and they would read what ever I decided to write and the other half said that I should resolve the stalker line then continue on with the story in the fluffy manner in which I am best at. Thanks to all the great suggestions. After rereading the all the chapters in this story I decided that it was not so bad and decided to keep going. I hope people enjoy this chapter and will continue to read my updates from here on out. Thanks! Tinkerbell


	8. Back to Normal, Almost

Once Shane and Matt had both departed Hillridge for their new schools, things settled down considerably. It almost felt like it had never happened, except that neither Lizzie nor Gordo would ever be able to forget the first person that had tried to come between them. Also, at home it was hard not to notice Matt's absence and the way her father was having trouble looking her in the eye.

As Lizzie suspected it would, high school had improved. Those strangers in all her classes were starting to become more familiar and she was getting closer to being able to match faces with their names. Understandably Lizzie was still a little jumpy when a guy she didn't know started paying attention to her. The incident with Shane had left its mark and it would take time for it to fade away.

Extra curricular activities were going to be starting soon and Lizzie and Miranda were trying to pick an activity or a club to join. They had never been big into school activities in junior high but now that they were in high school they thought that they might give it a try. If nothing else it would look good on college applications. Gordo and Brad were already signed up for multiple clubs between them.

As Lizzie entered the cafeteria on Friday afternoon she could see Gordo, Brad and Miranda already seated at their regular table. As she took her seat next to Gordo he kissed her chastely on the cheek. Lizzie had noticed that ever since her father had found out about everything, including their sexual relationship, Gordo had barely touched her.

"So," Gordo said, "Have you girls decided on a club to join yet?"

"Well I've narrowed my selection down to Spanish club, yearbook and swimming," Miranda announced.

"Swimming?" Gordo asked with a snort of laughter, "Do you know how competitive that sport is? People start training and racing when they are in elementary school. No offense Miranda, but I don't think you would make it in swimming. Lizzie, how about you?" Gordo asked as Miranda stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, I've ruled out anything athletic, I'm kind of a klutz," Lizzie said.

"You don't say!" Brad said sarcastically, "I've lived here less than six months and even I had that figured out."

"Shut up," Lizzie said and laughed, "So, I'm thinking that the school paper or yearbook sounds the most like something that I would enjoy."

"Cool," Miranda said, "Let's sign up for yearbook together. I think we'd both enjoy our immersion into school activity more if we could do it together."

"Okay," Lizzie agreed, "Sounds like a plan."

"So, what are we doing tonight?" Gordo asked, "After all, it is Friday. Any suggestions?"

"Well, my Dad asked me to have dinner with him tonight," Lizzie said, "But I'd be up for movie night after that."

"Why does your Dad want to have dinner?" Gordo asked sounding a little panicked.

"He just said that we hadn't had a father-daughter chat in a while and he thought it was about time we make up for that. He also told me that I wasn't allowed to say no," Lizzie said.

"Well, if you are still allowed to see me after your chat, let's plan on movie night at my house and you can fill me in," Gordo said.

"Sounds good," Lizzie said.

When Lizzie arrived home from school her father was not home from work yet. She went in search of her mother to find out if she had the scoop about tonight's 'chat.'

"Mom," Lizzie said when she found Jo in the laundry room, "Is this chat that Dad wants to have with me over dinner about what I think that it's about?"

"Yes, but don't worry. He and I have talked about it a lot and I think he just want to clear the air between the two of you," Jo said.

"He's not going to yell at me or tell me how disappointed he is in me?" Lizzie asked.

"I don't think so, but I can't know for absolute certain what he is going to say," Jo said.

After talking to her mother she want up to her room to think about what she was going to say to her Dad. This was a conversation she'd never expected to have to have. When her Dad arrived home from work he came up to her room and asked if she was ready to go to dinner. The car ride to the pizza place was silent. Each knew they had a lot to talk about, but neither wanted to be the first to start. The silence lasted until after they had placed their order and settled into their booth.

"When did you get to be so grown up?" Sam asked.

Lizzie blushed and said, "I don't know."

"Me neither," Sam said and reached across the table to take her hand. "I want you to know that I am not mad at you about your relationship with David, it just caught me off guard. I admit that I was angry at first. Well, if I'm being completely honest, when I first heard that you and Gordo were, you know, I wanted to find him and tear his...well you get the picture. I feel like just yesterday you were in 5th grade and the day before that you were still in diapers. It is hard for any father to realize that his little girl is growing up , but it makes it even harder to realize it when it comes with this kind of bombshell."

"I know, I'm sorry," Lizzie said.

"Father's have a natural instinct to protect their daughters. I know that you don't exactly need protecting from David, but just promise me that you will be safe, okay?" Sam asked.

"I promise," Lizzie said.

"Okay, now that we have talked about this, let's put it behind us and eat our pizza," Sam said.

After dinner Lizzie asked Sam if he would be willing to drop her off at Gordo's for movie night. Sam agreed and said, "Since I know that you are going to go in there and tell Gordo all about this conversation, let him know that I've got my eye on him. Just kidding, tell him that all is well."

"Thanks Dad," Lizzie said with a smile.

Author's Note: This is not a terribly exciting chapter, but it's a start. I promise I will keep updating this story--please review. Thanks! Tinkerbell.


	9. Friends or Foes?

A week after Lizzie and Miranda had joined the yearbook staff, Lizzie was loving it and Miranda was on the verge of quitting. Lizzie had signed up for and been assigned the coveted role of junior photographer. This year she would work with and assist the photographers with all their assignments to help her learn the routine. Then next year when role assignments were assigned Lizzie would be guaranteed a role as photographer and she would help to select and train a new junior photographer. Miranda had also wanted the role of junior photographer, but it had come down to who the photographers thought had the most potential. On the their first day of yearbook they had been asked to think about which roles they were interested in and fill out an application of sorts. If they were interested in writing captions they needed to submit a writing sample, if they wanted to be a photographer they needed to submit a photograph that they had taken and so forth. Lizzie's first choice had been junior photographer, but she also noted her interest in many other roles incase she didn't get the one she wanted. Miranda on the other hand had been so sure that she would land the junior photographer role that she hadn't mentioned any other roles she might enjoy. Therefore when the decisions were made Miranda was left with the role of general go-getter. Miranda's role was to help out whoever needed it and generally run errands for everyone else. At first Miranda was just upset in general but as time progressed she'd turned her anger on Lizzie, after all, Lizzie had gotten the job that Miranda had wanted.

Lizzie had another problem that she as more worried about than Miranda though, her relationship with Gordo, or lack thereof. Since the debacle with the sex picture and her father finding out about the two of them Gordo had been very hands off. It had gotten to a point where Gordo would go to any means possible not to be left completely alone with Lizzie. She understood that he was freaked out about being videotaped and about her father knowing about them, but come on! She had not yet figured out what she was going to say to him, but she knew that they needed to talk about it, soon!

At lunch Lizzie noticed how much the Miranda and Gordo situations were affecting everything. Most days they barely had time to eat they were so busy talking about stuff. Today Miranda was grouchily picking at her food but not eating and definitely not talking. Gordo had a film journal open in front of him and was busy reading, openly ignoring the rest of them at the table. Brad's strategy was to stay silent. Logically he should side with Miranda, but he could see how silly she was being in taking her anger out on Lizzie, so was remaining neutral. In an effort to pretend things were normal Lizzie kept chattering away about classes and people they went to school with. After lunch she rested her forehead against her locker in defeat and wondered how she was going to straighten things back out.

"Rough day?" She heard a female voice ask beside her.

"You have no idea," Lizzie said as the turned and found Gracie McDonald addressing her.

"Want to talk about it?" Gracie asked, "I always say that it always helps to talk about your problems."

Lizzie and Gracie had met on the first day of high school in biology. Gracie had been the one who told Lizzie all about the terrible tricks that Shane Simon pulled on girls. Thanks to Gracie, Lizzie had known in advance and was able to avoid some of the heartache and misery that she probably would have been in for. Lizzie and Gracie had several classes together and had become pretty good friends. Lizzie had filled Gracie in on all of the things that had happened with Shane. On their way to class Lizzie told Gracie all about Miranda and the yearbook staff problem and also about Gordo's behavior since the Shane situation ended. When they split off into pairs to work on an assignment Gracie and Lizzie paired up. When they were finished working they were free to visit quietly.

"Sounds like your friend Miranda is jealous that you got what she wanted. She is probably also a little upset with herself for not making sure that all her bases were covered as far as getting a role that she liked. I would give her time and space. If the two of you are as good of friends as you say you are she will realize that she is being stupid and make amends," Gracie said.

"Wow, that is great advice," Lizzie said, "Thanks!"

"Another thing, when she does decide that she wants to be friends again if she is still on the yearbook staff with you tell her that she should really make the best of the role she has. If she can prove herself in this role she will be a great candidate for a great role next year, or even this year if a space opens up," Gracie said.

"How is it that you are so good at giving advice?" Lizzie asked.

"Well, don't tell anyone but in junior high was the advice column editor for the school paper," Gracie said.

"No way, so was I," Lizzie said, "Not that you could tell, I am terrible at solving my own problems."

"It is always hard for people to look at their own problems objectively. I can't believe how much we have in common!" Gracie said.

"So, what should I do about Gordo?" Lizzie asked.

"That one is a little harder. I've never really had a boyfriend, much less one in a relationship as serious as yours is. But I guess the best I can offer is to talk to him and find out what is really bothering him. A little honesty goes a long way," Gracie said.

"That's what my conclusion had been too. I keep putting it off though, I'm too afraid of what I might find out," Lizzie said.

"You need to do it as soon as possible," Gracie told her.

"I will," Lizzie said.

That morning the four of them had rode to school together like they always did but Lizzie wasn't sure that she could handle the car ride home if it was anything like lunch had been. She met Gordo at his locker at the end of the day and told him that she was going to walk home after the yearbook meeting so he didn't have to wait for her. She thought the walk home would give her time to think about what she wanted to say to Gordo. She was disappointed when Gordo barely registered a reaction and walked away saying, "Suit yourself." Maybe things were even worse than she thought.

Lizzie went to the yearbook meeting but was distracted. She noticed that Miranda was there and looking nearly as miserable as she felt. She thought maybe Miranda was regretting the way she was treating her but when she smiled across the room at her, all Miranda did was roll her eyes and turn away. The walk home was long. Lizzie cried over both the situations she found herself in and when she got home she went straight to bed.

In the morning she was thankful that it was Friday and it would be the last day this week she had to endure. She decided to drive herself to school in her own car so that she could give herself some distance from her problems. While she'd had a lot of time to think on her walk home yesterday she didn't want to walk home again tonight.

She got to school early and was standing at her locker when Gordo, Brad and Miranda arrived. Neither Brad nor Miranda showed any sign that they saw her as they walked past her to their lockers. Gordo approached her and said, "Your Mom told me that you drove yourself this morning. Why?"

"Why do you think?" Lizzie asked as she spun around to face him. She could feel tears gathering in the corners of her eyes and she willed them silently not to fall.

"I don't know," Gordo said quietly, proving to her that he did know why.

"I think you do know," Lizzie said, "I know that what we went through was hard and it put us both in some compromising situations, but we got through it together. I don't understand why you are pushing away from me now. If you are done with me, then you need to tell me." With her worst fear hanging in the air between them she slammed her locker shut and ran to the nearest ladies room where she could shed her tears in private.

Gordo did not try to catch up with her. But later when she returned to her locker for her books for first period she found a note from him that read, "Meet me after school at my house, we need to talk."

Lizzie sighed and wondered if this would be how it all would end.


	10. Confrontation

It was the longest school day of Lizzie's life. She was terrified of what Gordo was going to tell her, but at the same time she couldn't wait to find out. She was just glad that she didn't have yearbook after school today. For the rest of the day she avoided Gordo, Brad and Miranda. At lunch time she went to the library to be alone. If this was the last few hours of their relationship she wanted to savor them alone and think over all the good times they'd had. She thought about how they'd finally gotten together, her 16th birthday and their time at the cabin. It had been the best time of her life, she never would have guessed that it might turn out to be just a summer fling. She and Gracie had the class after lunch together. Lizzie filled Gracie in on all the things that had happened since they last talked and asked for Gracie's advice.

"I don't know what to tell you Lizzie," Gracie said, "I don't know what he's going to say to you so I don't know how to advise you. I just wish you the very best. I will give you one thing, my phone number. With your best friend still angry with you, you might need someone to talk to this weekend. Please call me if you need to talk."

Lizzie nodded and took Gracie's phone number.

When the end of the day came Lizzie slowly walked to her car. She had wanted the whole day to go faster so she could get to this part, but now that it was here she wished she could go back to the beginning and never get here. Her stomach had butterflies and they were not the good kind. When she got to Gordo's house he was waiting for her on the front porch.

"Do you want to go for a ride?" He asked quietly.

"Sure," she answered.

They climbed into his car and they drove for a little while in silence. It was obvious that Gordo wasn't sure of where he was going, he was just driving. Eventually he pulled into an empty parking next to an outdoor baseball diamond. He shut the ignition off and turned to face her in his seat. He sat for a minute, still not sure where to begin when Lizzie started talking first.

"Let's just get this over with," she said sounding a little annoyed.

"Get what over with?" Gordo asked.

"You breaking up with me," Lizzie said tearfully.

"I don't want to break up," Gordo said confused.

"You don't?" Lizzie asked hopefully, "Then what has been going on all week?"

"I thought you wanted to break up with me," Gordo said.

"Okay, freeze, we need to go back to the beginning, which I think was when we turned in Matt and Shane and my Dad found out about us. Ever since that day things have been different. I thought it was just because you were uncomfortable with my Dad knowing about us. But clearly there was more to it than that," Lizzie said.

"Go on," Gordo said wanting to hear more of her explanation.

"Well at first it was just that you would barely touch me at all, but then it turned into you also ignoring me and in general just not caring about me at all," Lizzie said.

"Can you expand on that last part about me ignoring you and not caring in general?" Gordo asked.

"Yesterday at lunch you didn't say a word to me. I talked and talked and no one said anything back. I know why Miranda is mad at me, but I don't understand why you are. Then because of how awful lunch was I decided to walk home and all you had to say was, 'suit yourself,' you didn't ask why or express any concern at all," Lizzie said.

At this point Gordo started to laugh, then he grabbed her face and kissed her hard on the lips. Clearly confused Lizzie said, "Care to explain?"

"I was very uncomfortable when your Dad found out about us. I knew it would take me a little while to get over that and back to normal. I was sure you understood that and clearly you did. After a few days though you kind of backed off and seemed completely lost in thought whenever I tried to talk to you. I was sure that you had decided to break up with me. Because I was sure of that fact I started to try and back off too, ignore you a little and not care so much. I thought it would hurt less that way when the inevitable happened and you broke up with me," Gordo explained.

"So, for a week we've both been sure that we were getting dumped all because we didn't talk to each other about how uncomfortable it was that my Dad found out about us?" Lizzie asked.

"Looks that way," Gordo said, "But there's one part that I still don't understand. Why did you back off from me if you understood how I was feeling about your Dad knowing about us?"

"I understood that you were uncomfortable but it didn't mean that I stopped having urges to kiss and touch you. I had to back off a little bit so I could be sure that I was giving you the space you needed. I hoped that when you were comfortable again you would come on to me," Lizzie said.

"Man, we really need to make sure we are honest and up front with each other from now on. We were just miserable for a week because of a little misunderstanding," Gordo said.

Out of sheer relief Lizzie started to cry and said, "This has been the worst week of my life. Not only did I think that you and I were over, Miranda isn't speaking to me," Lizzie said.

Gordo gathered her up in his arms and said, "I noticed that you two weren't talking. Why don't you tell me about it and I will see if I can help."

For the next hour the couple sat in his car at the baseball diamond and talked about everything that had happened in the last week. They decided that they would take their time getting back into their physical relationship. Things had been moving pretty fast for a while and Sam finding out about them had been just the scare they needed to slow it back down. There was really no reason to rush anyway.

"So, let's go back to my house and see if we can't get you and Miranda all reconciled," Gordo said.

"I don't think I have anything to say to her. I didn't do anything wrong. She is the one who should apologize to me," Lizzie said.

"I agree with you, but you may need to be the once to break the ice if you ever want things to go back to normal," Gordo suggested.

Grudgingly Lizzie agreed to go back to the house, but not necessarily to talk to Miranda. Gordo had a plan. When they got to the house Gordo left Lizzie in the car telling her that he would go see if Miranda was willing to apologize. When he got in the house he got Brad alone and told him his plan. Brad already knew that Miranda would not apologize to Lizzie so he told her that Lizzie wanted to apologize to her. He told her to go wait in the laundry room because Lizzie wanted to meet in there to talk. Gordo went out to the car and told Lizzie that Miranda wanted to apologize to her and was waiting to talk in the laundry room. When both girls were in the room Gordo shut the door and waited.

"So," Miranda said, "I heard that your ready to apologize to me."

"No way, you owe me an apology. I heard you were apologizing to me," Lizzie said.

"You first," Miranda said.

Each turned and reach for the doorknob and together they discovered that it was broken. They banged on the door for the boys to let them out but all they heard was silence. When they banged louder Gordo came back and said, "Get the hint, we are not letting you out until you resolve this stupid argument." With that he walked away and left them alone.

Lizzie and Miranda looked at each other, crossed their arms across their chest and both sat down on the floor on opposite sides of the room.


	11. Reconciliation

After Gordo and Brad left Lizzie and Miranda locked in the laundry room they hurried into the kitchen and sat down at the table together. "Man, I feel like the biggest schmuck locking them in there," Brad said.

"I know," Gordo said, "but trust me. I have been friends with both of them for long enough to know that they both have a pretty wide stubborn streak and forcing them to talk it out is the best way."

"Won't they be mad at us?" Brad asked.

"That, my friend, is the whole key to the plan. We need to give them something to agree on so that they will start talking again. If they are both mad at us they will start to talk about that and before you know it they are starting to realize that they were being stubborn and make up," Gordo said.

"Hmmmm," Brad said, "Sounds logical enough."

"We just have to sit back and wait," Gordo said.

Back in the laundry room Lizzie was sitting on the floor with her back against the washing machine and Miranda had hopped up on top of the dryer to sit so that she wouldn't have to look at Lizzie. Miranda was rummaging around in her purse trying to find something that would occupy some time. Silently she was cursing Lizzie's good fortune to have her MP3 player in her purse. She could hear Lizzie quietly humming along with her tunes. If she could help it she was not going to be the first one to talk and she could bet that Lizzie was thinking the same thing.

"How long have they been in there?" Brad asked.

"Only about 45 minutes," Gordo said.

"Should we go and check on them?" Brad asked.

"No. We could hear them from here if they had made up and were ready to come out. But I only hear silence, which means they probably haven't even started talking yet. We need to give them more time," Gordo said.

"What if they never start talking?" Brad asked.

"Don't worry. When they get hungry they will start talking, because otherwise we will refuse to give them any food," Gordo said.

"That seems harsh," Brad said.

Gordo was about to respond when the phone rang. He jumped up and grabbed the receiver, "Hello?"

"Gordo, this is Jo. Do you know where Lizzie is?" Jo asked.

"Yeah, she is here," Gordo said.

"Can I talk to her?" Jo asked.

"Is it an emergency?" Gordo asked.

"Well, no…" Jo began.

"Then you can't talk to her," Gordo cut in.

"What exactly is going on over there?" Jo demanded to know.

Gordo explained about how he and Brad were holding Lizzie and Miranda captive in the laundry room until they agreed to work out their differences. He told Jo that he and Brad couldn't take them fighting any longer so they were prepared to keep them in there all night if they had to.

While Jo, like Brad was a little unsure of the method, she too noticed that the girls weren't talking and wanted them to work it out.

"Well, tell Lizzie to check in, if she ever makes it out of your laundry room," Jo said.

"Mrs. McG?" Gordo began, "Can you call Miranda's house and fill her Mom in so she doesn't worry about where she is?"

"Sure Gordo," Jo said and she laughed a little as she told him good-bye.

Back in the laundry room Miranda was now stretched out on her back across the washer and dryer. Her eyes were closed and she was pretty sure that for a few minutes at a time she had actually dozed off once or twice. How long were they going to make them sit in here, she wondered. She opened her eyes and counted the ceiling tiles in the small room. She closed her eyes again and was nearly asleep when a sharp bang on the washer below her head nearly caused her heart to stop.

"What the hell!" Miranda yelled.

"My batteries just died," Lizzie said furiously as she banged the washer again with her elbow.

"I guess now you also get to suffer in silence," Miranda said.

Lizzie didn't answer. After a minute or two of rummaging around in her purse she pulled out some nail polish and went to work on her fingernails. Miranda rolled her eyes and lay back down. She rolled to the side a little to watch Lizzie work on her nails. The longer they were in here without talking the more guilty she felt. She knew that she was being unreasonable in taking out her anger on Lizzie over the yearbook positions, but that wasn't the whole reason that she was angry. She wasn't completely sure that she knew how to explain why she was angry and she wasn't completely sure that anger was the best word for it. A better word was probably jealously.

Lizzie finished her nails and started to blow on the wet polish. In a gesture that Miranda had not expected, Lizzie reached up behind her head to hand the bottle to Miranda. Startled, Miranda took it and said, "Thanks."

"I was determined not to be the first one to talk, but the longer we sit in here, the dumber our argument seems. So, after an hour and a half of sitting in here, I guess I will start," Lizzie said.

She paused for a moment to think and Miranda cut in, "No, let me go first. I'm not even sure what you should have to be sorry about. I am the one who is being completely irrational and unreasonable about the whole yearbook thing. It is my own stupid fault that I didn't sign up for more jobs than the one I really wanted. I took my anger out on you because I was jealous that you got the job that I wanted."

"Are you sure that is all that you have been upset about?" Lizzie asked, "It seems like it should be something bigger, based on the way you were treating me."

"That was the thing that set me off, the last straw," Miranda said.

"So, what is the big picture," Lizzie asked.

"I'm jealous of you," Miranda said.

"What? Why?" Lizzie scoffed.

"For everything…I thought that my jealously was starting to fade when Brad and I started dating, but after a little while it started to show again," Miranda said.

"I don't understand." Lizzie said.

"You are Lizzie McGuire. You are perfect, beautiful, blonde, smart, funny and everyone loves you. At time is can be hard to be best friends with someone who shines so brightly," Miranda said.

"But what about all the other things that I am: klutzy, ditzy, slightly self-centered, sometimes careless and irresponsible," Lizzie offered.

"All your good qualities outweigh the bad though," Miranda said.

"You have plenty of good qualities going for yourself you know," Lizzie said. When she could tell that Miranda did not necessarily agree she started to list them off, "You're unique, independent, smart, pretty, funny, creative…"

With a smile Miranda said, "Okay, okay…I get it."

"I don't understand why you are jealous of me. You are not the kind of person who wants to be like anyone else, so why should it matter to you what I have or what I am?" Lizzie asked.

"I know, it didn't make sense to me at first either," Miranda said, "After a lot of thought I think it all goes back to your relationship with Gordo. We were supposed to be the three amigos, all best friends, but it was always a little lopsided because of the extra attention that Gordo paid to you. It made me jealous that he was closer to you when it should have been even. After I was jealous about that everything else seemed to add to it."

"Like what added to it?" Lizzie asked.

"You got a car for your birthday and your parents put a pool in and you and Gordo finally started dating and when we started high school you suddenly had all these guys interested in you and all these new friends….just everything. It seemed like your life was perfect and that you always got everything you ever wanted. It was hard not to want such a charmed, easy life too," Miranda said.

Lizzie scoffed and said, "My life has been far from perfect. Did you forget about Shane and that whole mess? What about the past week of my life? I was sure that I was losing both my best friend and my boyfriend in the same week."

"You and Gordo were fighting too?" Miranda asked with surprise.

"It's fine now, it was more like a misunderstanding than anything," Lizzie said, "But the point is that my life is not perfect and it is stupid for you to be jealous of me. I do not expect that things go perfectly in my life. I admit that at times things do seem too good to be true, but that is not something I ask for. I am sorry that you always felt that the three amigos were uneven and unfair, but that is not something I asked for either. I hope that you can resolve your feelings of jealousy—because as far as I am concerned, they are unfounded. If you need to be jealous of anything I guess you can be jealous of the good luck that I sometimes seem to possess, but that is all."

Miranda was speechless for a moment. Lizzie was right…all the things that she was jealous over were not things that Lizzie or anyone else could control. If she took a moment to look at her life she would have noticed that things had been going well for her too. Maybe she needed to take a little more stock in what she had going on in her life and pay less attention to what Lizzie had going on in hers.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie," Miranda said, "I feel really silly now."

"It's okay," Lizzie said, "Friends?"

"Best friends," Miranda said with a smile. She jumped down from her perch on the dryer and hugged Lizzie.

Gordo and Brad had listened to the entire exchange with their ears practically pressed up against the door. After nearly an hour and a half of silence the loud banging of Lizzie's elbow on the dryer had drawn them. For a brief moment they had been afraid that things had come to blows. Hearing that the girls had peacefully resolved their issues Gordo opened the door, releasing them.

"Finally," Lizzie moaned when they noticed the door swing open. Growing serious for a moment though she added, "Thanks guys. We needed someone to push us in the right direction.

"Yeah, thanks," Miranda added quietly.

"Miranda, can I speak to you privately?" Brad asked. She nodded and followed him upstairs to his bedroom. When she'd settled on the bed and he'd closed the door behind them he said, "You know that Gordo and I heard every word of what you and Lizzie said in that room." Miranda nodded again and he continued, "Why didn't you ever tell me about those feelings?"

"Yeah," Miranda said sarcastically, "Because it is such an admirable quality for a girl to be somewhat insecure and jealous of her best friend."

"I'm being serious Miranda. It wouldn't have changed how I felt about you. You're still you," Brad explained, "I would hope that you can always feel comfortable enough to tell me anything."

"No one wants to admit the bad things about themselves," Miranda said quietly.

"No, but maybe sometimes when you share those things, those feelings, you'd find that you're not the only one who feels those things," Brad said.

"What are you taking about?" Miranda asked.

"Don't you think a nerd like me has some insecurity? Brad asked.

"I supposed that is possible," Miranda conceded with a small smile.

"More than possible, it's the truth," Brad said firmly, "I've been jealous of Gordo for years. I just didn't get how if I was kind of a dork and he was kind of a dork, why did he have you and Lizzie as friends when I had no one. I am aware now that we were not the same caliber of dork, but never the less."

"So, what exactly are you trying to say to me?" Miranda asked.

"I just want you to realize that how you are feeling is normal, you aren't alone," Brad said, "Don't you think everyone has some degree of jealously toward someone else? You don't think that Gordo was jealous of that Ethan Craft guy who Lizzie couldn't take her eyes off of for so many years? And don't you think Lizzie was jealous of Kate who used to be friends with you guys before she got popular and left you behind?"

"You're probably right," Miranda said, "But I'm the only one who came forward and admitted my jealously out loud."

"I happen to think that was extremely brave of you," Brad said, "And I think hearing about it has made me love you even more. And possibly more importantly, maybe Lizzie will see your friendship in a different light."

"How is it that you're so smart?" Miranda asked, then in a more serious tone added, "Thank you, I needed to hear those things."

The two couples headed out to the local pizza place together and caught up all the things they'd missed out in each other's lives in the last week or so while things had been strained. Each realized how important their trust and communication were to maintaining both the relationships and friendships they all held so dearly. They also hoped that in these realizations they'd make their bonds stronger and manage to survive the rest of the semester unscathed.

**Author's Note:** I know it has been years since I updated this story but I reread this whole story recently and saw the potential that there still was. Maybe I still have some readers; maybe not…it was fun anyway. Please review and let me know if I should keep going with this story! Thanks!


End file.
